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Goa, which is already declared green zone with no active COVID-19 case, is all geared up to welcome tourists. Chief Minister of Goa, Pramod Sawant informed that the state is ready to welcome the tourists, but restarting tourism activities may take some time, for the fact that many parts of the country are still under the grip of the pandemic.
In his live interaction on Facebook organised by the state government’s Directorate of Information and Publicity, Sawant said,”We are ready to welcome tourists. But if one takes note of the situation in the country, it appears that we will have to wait for sometime. We are willing to say welcome to tourists, but they should be willing to come.”
He also informed that the state will soon be forming its own guidelines and standard operating procedures (SoPs) to regulate tourism in a post-COVID-19 scenario. The state government is also looking forward to the release of a similar SOP dealing with protocol related to inbound tourists, by the Union Tourism Ministry.
Sawant also said that inter-state movement should be allowed in a restricted manner as neighbouring states of Karnataka and Maharashtra are witnessing spike in number of cases. He also said that out of the 14,000 odd foreign tourists who had been repatriated from the country during the pandemic, nearly 7,000 flew out of India from Goa alone.
